More Than Notes

NUNO BETTENCOURT TALKS US THROUGH HIS GUEST PARTS ON “TAKE ANOTHER PIECE”

“Alot of it was improvised. Even when we shot the video, I probably played everything in the wrong place. I didn’t write it down and couldn’t remember exactly what I did, so I just faked my way through it. [Laughs] I don’t do these things a lot, especially instrumental projects. The instrumental stuff from me has been very limited and generally just on Extreme albums. But Benny put a gun to my head and forced me to do it. I don’t want to call it a neoclassical track, but it does have those orchestral elements. I didn’t even know any of the other players on this track; I knew who they were but I didn’t know them personally. It was really interesting to hear what I was doing going into someone else’s completely different approach. You can hear different paintings in the same song, unique interpretations of ultimately the same sort of message.

“I guess what I’m doing is all from the Eddie Van Halen school of playing. I don’t really orchestrate my leads. I just let the thing run and play to it. When I listen back, if I like 100 percent, then I'll keep it. If I like 20 percent, I’ll take it somewhere else from there. So it might be built in that sense, but it’s more of a magical thing that comes from jamming along to the music and seeing where it takes you freely, without too much thought. I’ve always been like that; I tend to learn things by ear instantly and just nail it. That’s what works for me, rather than thinking too much. I always want my leads to be emotional. Even if you like the technical stuff, I want you to be distracted by the emotion first. That’s the thing that makes you want to hear it again. It’s how all my favorite guitar players made me feel.”